Into the Land of the Lost

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1: A Friend in Trouble

  2: Under Sparr’s Spell

  3: Bridge of Mists

  4: Thief of Agrah-Voor

  5: The Ghost Queen

  6: Walls of Terror

  7: In the Mind’s Eye

  8: Warriors of the Skorth

  9: Against the Gate of Life

  10: Good-bye to Agrah-Voor!

  The Adventure Continues …

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Eric Hinkle’s best friends, Neal and Julie, had just come over. But when they entered the kitchen, they found Eric and his father crawling under the counter.

  “Hey, Eric, why is your head under the sink?” Neal asked as Mr. Hinkle began hammering. Then he whispered, “Did you find a new entrance to you-know-where?”

  Eric laughed and stood up. “No. My dad and I are fixing this leak.” He pointed to an old pipe under the sink.

  Blang! Bam! His father hit the pipe.

  “I guess we can’t go back to Droon till you’re done,” said Julie softly, so Mr. Hinkle wouldn’t hear.

  Eric smiled. Droon was the secret world he and his friends had discovered beneath his basement.

  It was a magical place of wizards and strange creatures. One of the first people they had met there was a princess named Keeah. She had become their special friend.

  Galen the wizard and Max, his assistant, helped Keeah battle Lord Sparr.

  Sparr, of course, was the wickedest of wicked sorcerers. He was always trying to take over Droon. Now he was searching for something called the Golden Wasp. Galen had told them the Wasp was an object of awesome magical power.

  Good thing it was hidden. For now.

  Ping! Bong! Mr. Hinkle kept on hammering.

  “Look at this,” Julie whispered, showing Eric a silver bracelet dangling on her wrist. “I bought a little fox for my charm bracelet. It reminds me of Batamogi.”

  “Cool!” Eric said. On their last adventure, a fox-eared king named Batamogi had crowned Julie a princess. That sort of thing happened in Droon.

  Blam! Blam! Mr. Hinkle knocked the pipes even more loudly.

  “I got new socks,” Neal said. “Wanna see?”

  “No!” said Julie, pinching her nose.

  Neal pulled off his sneakers anyway. “Bright red. I call them my Ninn socks!”

  The Ninns were Sparr’s soldiers. They were chubby and angry and their skin was bright red.

  “Just don’t lose your socks in Droon,” Eric warned. “You know what Galen says. If we ever leave anything behind, something from Droon will come here. And something from here will go there.”

  Just then, Eric’s dad stopped banging, stood up, and sighed. “I’m not quite sure what’s wrong,” he said.

  Neal nudged Eric aside and stooped under the sink. “Turn that nozzle,” he said, pointing. “You need to release the pressure or it will explode.”

  Mr. Hinkle frowned. “Are you sure?”

  Neal nodded. “My dad does plumbing stuff all the time. That nozzle turns.”

  Mr. Hinkle tried it. “It won’t budge. What am I doing wrong?”

  “Listening to Neal,” Julie said with a chuckle. “Now put your sneakers back on, Neal.”

  “Yes, princess!” he said, scowling.

  “Wait, I think it’s moving —” Mr. Hinkle said. The nozzle squeaked — err-err-err! — then POP! It exploded under the sink. Water burst from the pipe and onto the kitchen floor.

  “Wet socks!” Neal cried. “I hate wet socks!”

  “The pipe broke!” Mr. Hinkle shouted. “Holy cow! We need a towel. Eric, get me a wrench! Everybody out of the way!”

  The kids shot down to the basement for a wrench.

  “There’s water everywhere,” Neal said. “Your mom’s going to be really mad!”

  “Neal, will you just —” Eric started, then he stopped. Julie was standing at the tool bench. Her eyes were wide with wonder.

  And with fear.

  In her hands was not a wrench, but the soccer ball that Keeah had cast a spell on. It was supposed to tell them when they were needed in Droon.

  And now, across the surface of the ball words appeared in thin blue ink.

  “Eric-c-c-c!” sputtered his father from the kitchen above.

  “We’re looking for the wrench, Dad!” Eric called up.

  Neal pulled his shoes on, took the ball, and quickly reversed the letters in his head. Sparr seeks the Golden Wasp, help me, help Droon.

  “I knew it!” said Julie. “We’ll help your dad when we get back. But we have to help Keeah first! She’s in big trouble!”

  Eric nodded. Time ran differently in Droon. He knew they would be back before anyone missed them.

  They shoved aside the large carton that blocked the door beneath the stairs. They jammed themselves inside a small closet. Julie shut the door. Eric flicked off the closet light.

  Whoosh! Instantly, the floor vanished beneath them and they stood at the top of a long, shimmering staircase.

  The magical staircase to the land of Droon.

  Eric took the first step. Then another and another. His friends followed close behind.

  The air was pink all around them.

  At the bottom of the stairs was a rocky plain stretching for miles in every direction. Boulders lay scattered like pebbles tossed by a giant.

  Eric wondered if maybe they had been.

  “Welcome to the middle of nowhere,” Julie said.

  As the stairs faded into the pink air, a plume of dust rose from the horizon. The ground thundered with beating hooves.

  “It’s a pilka!” Julie cried out, pointing to a shaggy-haired beast with six legs galloping toward them. “It’s Galen’s pilka, Leep. And Keeah and Max are riding her! They’re coming this way.”

  “So is he!” said Eric, pointing to a big flying lizard, diving down from the sky.

  “A groggle!” Neal said. “This is not good.”

  The groggle swooped down at the pilka. On its back was a single rider, a man dressed in a long black cloak. Two purple fins stuck up behind his ears, and a row of spikes ran back from his high forehead. His eyes burned like fire.

  “Uh-oh,” said Julie. “It’s … it’s …”

  “… Lord Sparr!” Eric cried.

  “Wet socks and Lord Sparr?” Neal groaned. “Already my day is ruined!”

  Leep skidded to a halt and Keeah tumbled to the ground, out of breath.

  “Sparr will stop at nothing,” she gasped.

  “And he has a terrible new weapon,” said Max, Galen’s spider-troll helper. His orange hair stood straight up. His big eyes blinked fearfully.

  Kkkk! The sky crackled. Lord Sparr swooped down on them like a bird of prey.

  “Princess Keeah!” Sparr snarled, leaping from his groggle and planting himself before her. “Tell me now! Where is my Golden Wasp?”

  “She will never tell you!” Max cried fiercely.

  “And you have to deal with us!” Eric shouted.

  “Puny troublemakers,” Sparr sneered. “Begone!”

  Ka-blam! He scattered the friends with a bolt of fiery light from his fingertips.

  Max was flung back across the dust like a bowling ball. When he stopped rolling, his eight legs were twisted and tied in a knot.

  “My magic orb will make you speak!” Sparr said to Keeah. He pulled a black glass ball from his cloak and tossed it into the air. Strange designs were etched into the ball. It glowed as it hung over Keeah’s head.

  “Don’t look at it!” Julie cried out.

  “Ha!” snarled Sparr. “The more you try not to look, the more you must look….”

  He was right. Keeah tried to l
ook away but could not. She stared into the orb’s bright center.

  “The Wasp …” she murmured, her voice strangely different, “lies hidden in …”

  “Keeah, no!” Neal shouted. “Don’t tell him —”

  “… Agrah-Voor,” she whispered.

  “Ah!” Sparr cried. “How fitting that I should find my Wasp in the Land of the Lost! Come, princess, let’s go there together.”

  Sparr tore the floating orb out of the air.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Eric shouted, leaping at him.

  Kkkk! A sudden burst of light from the orb struck Eric in the face. The ball’s crisscrossed jagged lines flashed brightly in his eyes. “Ah!” he cried, falling to the ground.

  Sparr jumped up onto his groggle. “Princess, come!”

  Without protesting, Keeah mounted the beast and sat behind him.

  “We’ll follow you!” Julie yelled, rushing to Eric.

  Sparr’s lips curled into a smile. “Such good friends. And now, a little fun!”

  From another pocket in his cloak, Sparr pulled out a handful of wiggling things.

  “What are those?” said Neal. “Worms? So, you brought your family along?”

  Sparr scattered the worms on the ground. They grew long and thick and began to hiss. Soon the ground was swarming with them.

  “Snakes, go forth!” Sparr boomed.

  Hissing loudly, the snakes headed out across the plain.

  Sparr grinned coldly. “Just a little something to keep old Galen busy!”

  The sorcerer pulled sharply on the reins and dug his heels into the groggle’s sides. The beast left the ground. Princess Keeah clung to the sorcerer’s saddle, her eyes blank.

  A moment later, they were gone.

  Julie helped Eric to his feet. “Are you okay?”

  Eric rubbed his eyes. “I saw lines. Squiggly lines. That design on the ball burned into my eyes. Man, that hurt. The light blinded me.”

  “Ooh, that Sparr!” Max growled. “I’ll teach him a lesson! Well, I would if Galen were here. Oh, I wish —”

  Z-z-z-z! Suddenly, the air blurred, and a blue mist spun around them, streaked with blue light.

  Z-z-z-zamm! A figure appeared before them, as the light continued to spin.

  “Galen!” Julie exclaimed.

  It was Galen, first wizard of Droon. He wore a long blue robe covered with stars and moons. His white beard trailed nearly to his waist. He was bending over, digging in his pockets.

  “Master!” Max said, scrambling up to him. “It’s bad. Sparr has —”

  Galen stood up. “No need to tell me. Sparr has loosed his slithery snakes all across Droon. I must uncharm them one by one. That is why you must go to Agrah-Voor!”

  “We’re ready,” said Eric, the pain in his eyes lessening. “Which way?”

  “Not so fast,” said the wizard, rummaging in his pockets again. “Agrah-Voor is the city of ghosts. It is the abode of the fallen heroes of Droon.”

  “So it’s where the dead people live?” asked Neal.

  “Just so,” said Galen. “No living soul can harm another there. But there is a worse danger. You must be gone by midnight or all will be lost.”

  Eric noticed that the blue air continued to spin around as they talked. Were they … moving?

  “What happens at midnight?” Julie asked.

  The wizard frowned. “If midnight finds you in the city walls, you will become ghosts, too.”

  Neal gulped loud enough for everyone to hear. “Then … I think we’d better get started!”

  Galen smiled. “Take this.” He handed Neal a small hourglass. “It will tell you when to leave Agrah-Voor. The last grains will fall on the stroke of midnight.”

  Neal watched the tiny sand grains fall from the top of the glass to the bottom. No matter which way he turned the glass, the sand always ran in the same direction. “Now I know what they mean when they say that time is running out.”

  The air continued to spin around them as Galen pulled something else from his robes. “Take this, also,” he said, handing Julie a small mirror in a silver frame. “Rub its surface when you need to speak with me. I, too, shall carry one. But you may use it only once.”

  “I’ll take good care of it,” said Julie, slipping the mirror into her pocket.

  “What will Sparr do if he finds the Wasp?” Eric asked.

  “The Golden Wasp controls the mind,” the wizard said darkly. “It can make people forget. Turn them against their loved ones. Change who they are forever. Sparr will become even more powerful.”

  To Eric, the wizard had never before seemed so serious nor looked so sad.

  “Now,” said Galen, “the quickest way to Agrah-Voor is across the Bridge of Mists. Even Sparr doesn’t know this way yet. If you hurry, you can get there before him. And … here we are!”

  Poof! The spinning blue air vanished.

  Before them stood a stone bridge. Its near side was clearly visible. Its far side was shrouded in fog.

  “Now go,” said Galen. “I’m off to fight snakes!” An instant later — zamm! — the wizard was gone.

  Eric looked at his friends. He could tell they were as scared as he was. Scared for themselves.

  Scared for Princess Keeah.

  Scared of ghosts.

  “Let’s do it,” he said, trying to sound brave.

  Julie, Neal, and Max nodded in agreement.

  The thick mist poured around them as they stepped up onto the bridge.

  “Now I know why they call Agrah-Voor the Land of the Lost,” Neal said as the fog rolled over him. “You get lost just getting there!”

  “Good one,” said Eric, squinting to see him. “Everyone keep talking, so we don’t lose each other.”

  Max scampered across Julie’s feet. “I’m sorry about all of this,” he said. “I should have protected Keeah much better. I’m not very good.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Julie replied, scruffing his orange hair. “It’s not your fault. Sparr is a major sorcerer. Plus he’s got that wicked black ball thingie. We’ll find Keeah. Don’t worry.”

  Soon the fog began to thin. Rocky walls surrounded them. Long pointy formations hung from a ceiling they couldn’t see. Water splashed on the craggy stone floor.

  “Somehow, we’ve gone underground,” Eric whispered. “This is a cavern. A wet one. There’s a picture like this in our science book.”

  “I smell something burning,” said Max.

  “That means people, right?” Eric said.

  “Or maybe ghosts,” Neal whispered.

  A pale light shone from up ahead. Two torches stuck out from the cavern wall, sputtering.

  “We are not the first ones to travel this way,” said Max. Then he stopped and pointed. “Look.”

  Beyond the torches was a short set of steps cut into the rock. The bottom step was underwater.

  In the water was a boat.

  “Wow!” said Julie. “It looks like something from a fairy tale! Or a dream.”

  The boat was painted yellow and blue, and each end curved up away from the water.

  “If we’re supposed to take that,” Neal said, “it better float. My socks are just starting to dry.”

  Max clambered into the boat first. “There are no oars and no sail. I wonder how it moves.”

  When Julie stepped in, the odd little boat wobbled slightly, then became still.

  Neal pulled the small hourglass from his pocket. “I guess we’d better hurry. These grains of sand aren’t running any slower.” He stepped in, too.

  Slap. Slap. Eric turned to look back up the stairs. “Did you hear something?”

  “Only my heartbeat,” said Julie.

  Eric stepped in. The moment he did, the boat pulled away from the dock. “Yikes! It’s magic!”

  “It’s Droon,” Neal said softly.

  Eric gazed down at the black surface of the water. He wondered if it was cool or warm. He wondered if it even was water.

  He dipped his hand in.


  He gasped.

  As his fingers touched the water, the surface glistened for an instant, then turned crystal clear.

  “I can see through it!” Julie exclaimed. “There’s a … a …”

  “A city!” Neal said.

  It was a city. A tangle of odd buildings twisted up from the ground below. Eric could make out a high wall around them. “Is that Agrah-Voor?” he asked.

  “Where the dead people live?” Neal added.

  “It is the city of ghosts,” Max chittered.

  Suddenly, Eric’s ears twitched. “Ninns! I heard them before. Now I’m sure of it. Ninns are coming!”

  The next noise they heard was the sound of heavy feet slapping the stones.

  “There they are!” Julie whispered as a band of fat red Ninns tramped down to the water.

  “Augh! Small ones!” one cried out. “Stop!”

  Thwang! Sploosh! A flaming arrow whizzed past the boat, splashed the water, bounced, and clattered against the stone bank on the far side.

  “We cannot be captured!” Max urged. They all began to splash at the water.

  “Both hands, Eric!” cried Neal. “If I become a ghost, my mom’s really going to be mad!”

  Thwang! Another Ninn arrow shot so close to Eric’s ear, he could feel the flame’s heat.

  “I stop boat!” one Ninn grunted as he chased them along the bank. “I stop boat!”

  “I have a better idea!” Julie yelled. “How about you just stop!”

  But he shot his arrow, and it struck its mark.

  Thwang! Crrrack! The arrow’s tip struck the hull just below the waterline. A thin stream of water spurted into the boat.

  “A leak!” Max cried. “We’ve sprung a leak!”

  “Neal, your socks,” said Eric. “We need them to plug the hole!”

  “My … new … socks?”

  “No!” Julie cried. She pulled Eric’s hands from the hole. “We need to sink so we can escape!”

  “Oh, man, oh, man!” Neal groaned.

  The small boat tipped forward as it took on more water.

  The last thing anyone heard before the boat went down was Neal saying, “Glub! Glub!”

  Silvery water rushed over the kids. Eric gulped for air as the boat went down. He hoped he could hold his breath for as long as it would take —